No one grows up with the goal of being homeless. Doniece Sandoval, the founder of Lava Mae, realized during a life-changing cab ride. Lava Mae is a nonprofit in San Francisco that converts public transportation buses into mobile hygiene units, or bathrooms on wheels. (Yes, it seems businesses on wheels really intrigue me.) The goal: to deliver hygiene and to reconnect people experiencing houselessness with their dignity.
Doniece began Lava Mae after learning there were 16 shower stalls and about as many toilets for San Francisco's 7,500 houseless men, women, and children. Think about that math. It just does not work out. In this episode, she talks about how her idea became reality in such wonderful detail. In the five years since launching Lava Mae, 14,000 Californians have been served. Lava Mae is expanding by sharing an open source toolkit to respond to the more than 2,000 requests for help from communities as far away as Zimbabwe and as close as New York. In that same period of time, she has won countless awards and been recognized by CNN, Toyota and other organizations. Doniece, however, is most proud of the honor bestowed upon her by her 12-year-old daughter who calls her a homeless superhero. You know what? Her daughter is so right.
In this episode, we discussed what Radical Hospitality™ is and transforming how communities see our unhoused neighbors. Hygiene is important for everyone, not only for physical health, but for self-worth and self-confidence. Doniece saw firsthand how a shower can change a person, their view of the world, and how the world views them. She also eloquently shared her experience of seeing how bureaucracy and innovation can play nice in the sandbox.
Doniece helps us see ways to navigate interactions with our houseless, sometimes invisible, neighbors, people who need to be and should be seen. She reminds us that being homeless is a set of circumstances, not the identity of a person. I was deeply moved by Doniece’s story. I sincerely hope you will be, too.
For show notes and resources visit: https://www.vitalcorpswellness.com/blog/lvcs-0065-doniece-sandoval
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